


The Very Bad, No Good, Horrible Day

by Dancerlittle



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, Gen, Jack has a bad day at work, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28797774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancerlittle/pseuds/Dancerlittle
Summary: Jack has a horrible day at work. Luckily, he has two people who will be there to cheer him up.
Relationships: Jack Kelly/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	The Very Bad, No Good, Horrible Day

**There’s cursing in here.**

**July 2019**

The door slammed as Race and Kat looked up from their conversation. Race often dropped by the house to see his big brother and Kat. “Jack? Race is here.”

His shoes hit the bench before Jack made his way through the hallway to the bedroom, door slamming behind him, silence in his wake. Kat looked at Race, eyebrows raised as she got off the couch and headed to the bedroom door. Opening it quietly, she poked her head in, seeing Jack laying face down on the bed. Padding over to the bed, she sunk into bed beside Jack, running her hand through his hair. “You doing alright?”

“Shit day at work. I just want to be alone.” Jack’s voice was muffled, looking over his shoulder at Kat. “I’m alright Kat. Just a tough day.” 

Leaning over, she pressed a kiss to his forehead nodding. “I love you. I’ll give you some time but Race will come check up on you later, okay?”

He nodded, sighing. She pushed herself off the bed before walking to the door, shutting it gently behind her. Sighing, she walked to the living room to rejoin Race, him looking up at her with concern on his face. “He had a shit day at work. I told him that I’d give him some time but you’d be in a little bit to check up on him.” 

Race nodded, wringing his hands together. “Did he give any indications on what happened?” 

“No, he just mentioned that it was a shit day and that he wanted to be alone.” Kat said, giving him a sad look.    


He bit his lip, looking at his sister-in-law. “What do we do?” 

“That’s the hardest question you could’ve asked me.” Kat said, leaning back against the couch. “But I guess we love him and be there for him.” 

The silence hung heavy in the room as they were both lost in their own thoughts. Race sighed, throwing his head back against the couch as Kat patted his back in sympathy. A lot was packed into that pat on his back. 

Several minutes later, Race pushed himself off the couch, heading to the closed door, only to realize that it was locked. A swift knock on the door went unanswered. “Jack . . . come on, open up.” 

He felt a presence behind him, quickly looking over his shoulder to see Kat standing there. “Jackie, open up.” 

The other side of the door was quiet as Race laid a hand against the wooden door. A loud sigh escaped his mouth before a grin slid across his face. “If you don’t open up that door on the count of three, I will start huffing and puffing!”

“One . . . two . . . th-” Before he could finish saying three, the door was ripped opened and a red-eyed Jack was staring back at him. 

“Can’t a guy have some alone time?” He roared, looking between his wife and younger brother. 

Race’s lips slid into a grin. “Nope. Now let’s get you tucked into bed and you can tell us all about your horrible, no good, very bad day.” 

Race carefully took Jack’s arm, guiding him back to the bed before toeing off his shoes and joining him in the middle of the king size bed. As soon as Race was settled, Jack’s head was on his shoulder and a shuttered sigh escaped Jack’s mouth. Kat joined the two on the bed as Jack laced his fingers with hers. “Today sucked.”

“I’m sorry that it did.” Race quipped. “Wanna tell us why it sucked?” 

Jack sucked in a haggered breath. “I was in Brooklyn at the hospital with a reporter as they are doing a big story on healthcare workers. I was only there as the photographer. We were heading out to grab lunch when several ambulances pulled up and stretchers started being pushed into the emergency room.”

Kat started rubbing Jack’s back as his voice cracked. Race ran his hand through Jack’s already messy hair. “You don’t have to tell us if it’s too hard, Jack. You’re safe now.” 

He shook his head, taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “There were several kids who were burnt and bruised from a fire that happened a couple of streets over from the hospital. Their cries were just awful and painful and just brought up a bunch of memories.” 

“Oh Jack … I’m so sorry you had to go through that. But like Race said, you’re safe now.” Kat said, pressing a kiss to his cheek and squeezing his hand. 

Jack nodded, pressing a sad smile to his lips. “Thank you. You both are making it a bit easier. And nicely done with the huffing and puffing.” 

“Of course. It’s worked many times in the past, thought it would work now.” Race grinned hearing a chuckle from Jack. 

“Why do I feel like I’ve missed something?” Kat asked, looking between the two men. 

They both laughed. “Because you did. We used to do that to Romeo when he would lock himself in a room at Medda’s. Race figured out how to get him out by saying that. If I remember, Smalls would do it on occasion too.”

“Romeo would get so upset that he would lock himself in a room or the bathroom to sort things about.” Race smiled. “But we only had to threaten to take the doors off once and that was with Smalls.” 

Kat smiled, seeing the easygoingness on her husband’s face. “I’m sure Medda would’ve loved you taking her doors off.” 

“If it was to get Smalls out, she would’ve loved us.” Race smiled. “Just glad the threat was enough.” 

Jack nodded, looking between the two of them. “All right, I see what you’re trying to do, but it’s not gonna work.” 

“No, you’re not going to instantly forget today. It’ll stay with you for a while but you can’t let it consume you.” Kat smiled sadly. “You’re such a great man Jack. Your feelings and emotions is one of the many reasons I fell in love with you.”

Race looked at Kat. “Watch it, you’re going to make him cry.”

“I’m not going to cry.” Jack said, shoulder bumping Race with a grin. “And leave my sentimental wife alone.”

Race watched, Jack lean over and kiss Kat with a smile on his face. Jack looked over at him with an eyebrow raised. “What are you lookin’ at?” 

“Just you bein’ sweet with you girl, Jackie.” Race grinned. “You two are cute and you know it.” 

Jack smiled. “Like you’ ain’t sweet with Conlon?” 

“I’m not denying that I can be sweet with Spot. Hell, I brought him flowers the other day just because.” Race grinned. “But I’m going to get out of your hair so that you can be sweet on your girl, Jackie. Glad you’re feeling better.”

Holding out his hand, Race clasped his hand with Jack’s before leaning over and kissing Kat’s cheek. “Love you Racer. Thanks for coming over.”

“Anytime. Love you too.” Race smiled at both of them before leaving the house, leaving the two of them alone. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated and loved.


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